NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260M vs ATI Radeon HD 3850

Comparative analysis of NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260M and ATI Radeon HD 3850 videocards for all known characteristics in the following categories: Essentials, Technical info, Video outputs and ports, Compatibility, dimensions and requirements, API support, Memory, Technologies. Benchmark videocards performance analysis: PassMark - G3D Mark, PassMark - G2D Mark, GFXBench 4.0 - T-Rex (Frames), GFXBench 4.0 - T-Rex (Fps).

 

Differences

Reasons to consider the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260M

  • Videocard is newer: launch date 1 year(s) 3 month(s) later
  • 2.1x more core clock speed: 1375 MHz vs 668 MHz
  • 2.9x more texture fill rate: 31 billion / sec vs 10.69 GTexel / s
  • Around 15% lower typical power consumption: 65 Watt vs 75 Watt
  • 2x more maximum memory size: 1 GB vs 512 MB
  • Around 43% better performance in PassMark - G2D Mark: 43 vs 30
Specifications (specs)
Launch date 3 March 2009 vs 19 November 2007
Core clock speed 1375 MHz vs 668 MHz
Texture fill rate 31 billion / sec vs 10.69 GTexel / s
Thermal Design Power (TDP) 65 Watt vs 75 Watt
Maximum memory size 1 GB vs 512 MB
Benchmarks
PassMark - G2D Mark 43 vs 30

Reasons to consider the ATI Radeon HD 3850

  • 2.9x more pipelines: 320 vs 112
  • Around 39% better floating-point performance: 427.5 gflops vs 308 gflops
  • A newer manufacturing process allows for a more powerful, yet cooler running videocard: 55 nm vs 65 nm
  • Around 4% better performance in PassMark - G3D Mark: 393 vs 379
  • Around 8% better performance in GFXBench 4.0 - T-Rex (Frames): 3345 vs 3085
  • Around 8% better performance in GFXBench 4.0 - T-Rex (Fps): 3345 vs 3085
Specifications (specs)
Pipelines 320 vs 112
Floating-point performance 427.5 gflops vs 308 gflops
Manufacturing process technology 55 nm vs 65 nm
Benchmarks
PassMark - G3D Mark 393 vs 379
GFXBench 4.0 - T-Rex (Frames) 3345 vs 3085
GFXBench 4.0 - T-Rex (Fps) 3345 vs 3085

Compare benchmarks

GPU 1: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260M
GPU 2: ATI Radeon HD 3850

PassMark - G3D Mark
GPU 1
GPU 2
379
393
PassMark - G2D Mark
GPU 1
GPU 2
43
30
GFXBench 4.0 - T-Rex (Frames)
GPU 1
GPU 2
3085
3345
GFXBench 4.0 - T-Rex (Fps)
GPU 1
GPU 2
3085
3345
Name NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260M ATI Radeon HD 3850
PassMark - G3D Mark 379 393
PassMark - G2D Mark 43 30
GFXBench 4.0 - T-Rex (Frames) 3085 3345
GFXBench 4.0 - T-Rex (Fps) 3085 3345

Compare specifications (specs)

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260M ATI Radeon HD 3850

Essentials

Architecture Tesla TeraScale
Code name G92 RV670
Launch date 3 March 2009 19 November 2007
Place in performance rating 1452 1455
Type Laptop Desktop
Launch price (MSRP) $179

Technical info

Core clock speed 1375 MHz 668 MHz
CUDA cores 112
Floating-point performance 308 gflops 427.5 gflops
Gigaflops 462
Manufacturing process technology 65 nm 55 nm
Pipelines 112 320
Texture fill rate 31 billion / sec 10.69 GTexel / s
Thermal Design Power (TDP) 65 Watt 75 Watt
Transistor count 754 million 666 million

Video outputs and ports

Audio input for HDMI S / PDIF
Display Connectors DisplayPortSingle Link DVIDual Link DVIVGALVDSHDMI 2x DVI, 1x S-Video
HDMI
Maximum VGA resolution 2048x1536

Compatibility, dimensions and requirements

Bus support PCI-E 2.0
Interface PCIe 2.0 x16 PCIe 2.0 x16
Laptop size large
MXM Type MXM 3.0 Type-B
SLI options 2-way
Length 208 mm
Supplementary power connectors 1x 6-pin

API support

DirectX 10.0 10.0
OpenGL 2.1 3.3

Memory

Maximum RAM amount 1 GB 512 MB
Memory bandwidth 61 GB / s 53.1 GB / s
Memory bus width 256 Bit 256 Bit
Memory type GDDR3 GDDR3
Shared memory 0
Memory clock speed 1660 MHz

Technologies

CUDA
HybridPower
Power management 8.0
PureVideo HD